Other credits

Biographical information

Personal life

Patrick, the oldest of five siblings, was born in Marietta, Georgia, the son of Nadine and Robert Patrick Sr., a banker. His siblings are Richard, Cheri, Karen, and Lewis. He spent his early life in Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan, in 1977. Patrick was a track and field and football athlete at Bowling Green State University, although he dropped out before graduating when he found interest in drama and acting.

After leaving college, Patrick got a job as a house painter and continued as such until a boating accident in 1984 in Lake Erie. He swam for three hours in order to save the others still stranded on the accident site, nearly drowning in his attempt. After the accident, he moved from Ohio to Los Angeles, California, at the age of twenty-six. When he first moved to Los Angeles, he worked at a bar and lived in his car, picking up small roles in low-budget films. Looking back, Patrick credited his early appearances in films for his "tough-looking exterior".

Patrick married actress Barbara Patrick during the filming of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Patrick and Barbara have appeared together in various media releases such as Zero Tolerance and The X-Files. He has two children: a son, Samuel, and a daughter, Austin.

Career

In 1990, Patrick was cast in the role of T-1000 in Terminator 2. James Cameron, the director of the film, said he chose Patrick for the role because of his physical appearance, which was needed for the role. Before getting the part, he was struggling and looking for a break in the film industry. He has said the film gave him his career. Before reaching fame with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Patrick starred in various direct-to-video television movies, including a short appearance in Die Hard 2 as O'Reilly, a member of the terrorist organization.

In 2000, Patrick appeared in three episodes of The Sopranos, namely "The Happy Wanderer", "D-Girl", and "Funhouse", as David Scatino, a store owner struggling with gambling debts. Four years later, he made a guest appearance in the pilot episodes for SyFy Channel's original series Stargate Atlantis, as the military component commander of the Atlantis expedition, Marshall Sumner. He accepted the role since he had worked with the same crew on The Outer Limits, a show in which he appeared during the early 90s.

Awards

2005: Won a Temecula Valley International Film Festival Jury Award for The Fix (Best Actor)

2001: Won a Saturn Award for The X Files (Best Actor on Television)

Trivia

Patrick has played the fathers of both Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash: Vernon Presley in Elvis and Ray Cash in Walk the Line.

His brother is Richard Patrick, former guitarist of Nine Inch Nails and lead singer of the rock bands Filter and Army of Anyone. On October 22, 2010, the brothers sang guest vocals on the Filter song So I Quit on stage in Dallas.